Christy Lee and Ethan Alvizo knew they were on to something.

Before graduating from the University of Waterloo, the co-founders of Patient Companion had three hospitals complete pilot runs of their software platform that helps nurses cope with constant requests for help.

Patient Companion was founded in December 2023, about three months after Lee joined the University of Waterloo startup program Velocity. Lee was in her third year of biomedical engineering at the time. Her volunteer work in a hospital inspired Lee to develop new tech to help nurses, who juggle calls for assistance from numerous patients without knowing who should get priority.

“I saw some of the problems they are facing,” Lee said in an interview.

Patients use call buttons all the time. Sometimes, they just need a

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